Skip to content

Beware black ice

Along with the threat of a speeding ticket, black ice is another good reason to start slowing down on the Islands highway.Dennis Reindl at O'Brien Road and Bridge Maintenance says he's already heard there was ice on the Port Clements to Tlell stretch. That's the worst area for frost, he says. Along the coast is usually warmer, but that inland lowland area gets cold. Bridge decks also tend to be frosty even when the road isn't, he says."Pay attention and drive to the conditions," he says.Posted speed limits (80 km/hr on most stretches of the highway except the Port to the Tlell bridge stretch where it's 90 km/hr) are for ideal conditions only, he says. With ice on the road, no matter how slow one goes, they may lose control.O'Brien's will start salting the road while the temperatures hover around 0 degrees, but once they drop to -4, the sand trucks come out.